LA CRESCENT, Minn. — Spring pasture productivity, plant identification and improvements to herd health will be the focus of a special grazing field day Saturday, May 4, at Enchanted Meadows Organic Farm near La Crescent (32979 Pier Ridge Rd.) This Land Stewardship Project (LSP) field day will be held from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., and it is free and open to the public. Registration and build-your-own-sandwich meal (free will offering accepted) begins at 12:15 p.m., rain or shine. To reserve a spot by May 2, contact LSP’s Alex Romano at 507-523-3366 or aromano@landstewardshipproject.org.
DIRECTIONS: The farm is northwest of La Crescent and southeast of Nodine, just off Apple Blossom Drive (County Hwy. 1). Look for LSP signs.
This field day will feature a spring pasture walk guided by dairy graziers Art and Jean Thicke and Melissa and Chad Crowley. In 2013, the Thickes began transitioning their farm over to the Crowleys.
The Thickes have rotationally grazed dairy cows on pasture for over 30 years. Since the 1980s, they have managed their farm without fertilizer, pesticides or tillage, instead relying on strategic rest periods in their perennial pastures to improve forage production, water infiltration, and the biological activity in their soils. This field day will be of interest to all livestock farmers interested in pasture production, whether they are already grazing or are just interested in getting into grazing.
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